Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Fully Present

Yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble.

Around the perimeter of the store interior are large book cover advertisements for many of the classics from literature.To Kill A Mockingbird was in the far corner over the anime and graphic novel aisle.

Written by Harper Lee in 1960, Mockingbird has been assigned reading in many high schools and colleges since its publication. 

Writing in a southern style Harper Lee tells the story of  a sleepy town caught in the throes of racial prejudice and the poverty of the Great Depression. She keenly captures the hypocrisy of the backwater town of Maycomb, Alabama in her only published novel.

As the story unfolds Miss Maudie speaks to Scout..."There are some kind of men who-who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the streets and see the results." 

There are a myriad of other quotable statements in Mockingbird, but this one is a fresh reminder that we are to be "fully present in this moment."  We are to be focused on this time and to give ourselves completely to it.

Today, I commit to being fully present in this moment. Oh, it may cross my mind that there is another world  coming, but I don't want to be so "heavenly minded that I'm no earthly good."

In Harper Lee's words, "you can look down the street and see the results." What are the observable results of your focus?  What do you need to change today to be prepared to be fully present in this moment?

Gotta run...the moment is calling!

1 comment:

Cath said...

to be fully present in the moment has been a phrase I am learning about and how to do, over the last couple of years - I am grateful to have been made aware of it and to be reminded of it again this morning! cathy